Continue reading »]]> What is Retrobooster?

Retrobooster is a retro-styled, 2.5D Survival Shooter & Cave Flyer video game in development by indie game developer Terry Welsh, over at ReallySlick.com.

Here’s a great run-down of the game from the man himself, Really Slick‘s Terry Welsh.

Retrobooster lets you pilot a thrust-ship across the galaxy, focusing on the thrill of flying just as much as blasting enemies. Some cave-flyers keep the flying slow or neuter the physics in some other way, but Retrobooster enhances its survival theme by keeping the flying fast and tense. This is accomplished with a combination of clever control laws and realistic physics. Retrobooster also sports colorful explosions and other effects produced by a custom particle engine. All of this produces an arcade experience with a balance of bullet hell mayhem, flying challenges, and delicious pyrotechnics. Mmm, pyrotechnics.

The gameplay consists of skill-based flying and shooting, grabbing tokens to get power-ups and weapons, and figuring out how to get through each level. Beating a level can mean rescuing people, solving puzzles, or surviving speed-flying challenges. Replay value comes from multiple difficulty levels, the chance to play for high scores, and your constantly improving ship control skills.

Retrobooster is about two-thirds through development. The gameplay has matured enough that I am now releasing its first playable demo. I hope this will generate good feedback that will help make it a better game.

Here’s the rest of the pertinent information:

Platforms: Windows, Linux
Release: TBD 2013
Price: TBD

Features:
* Classic thrust-ship controls, plus reverse thrust
* High quality physics, with believable collisions and death by crushing
* Unlocked levels can be replayed anytime
* 4 difficulty levels
* Single player or up to 4 players split-screen
* Cooperative and deathmatch multiplayer modes
* Acquire weapons and power-ups by destroying enemies
* Electronic soundtrack by Kevin Meinert - http://www.subatomicglue.com
* Customizable controls
- Keyboard
- Mouse and keyboard
- Game controller (Some popular controllers are recognized automatically.)

Some Retrobooster linkage. Check it out!

Playable demo:
This demo will not be finalized until Retrobooster is complete. Expect demo updates as the game improves.
http://www.reallyslick.com/retrobooster/downloads.html

Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucDOSLE5wWg

Press kit (info, videos, and screenshots):
http://www.reallyslick.com/retrobooster/press.html

Official webpage:
http://www.reallyslick.com/retrobooster

Steam Greenlight page:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=95140416

I (Head Idiot) have been talking with Terry about this game for quite a while now and I am very impressed with how far it’s come. I’ve been anxious to give Retrobooster a try as it looks better every time I see something about it. I’ve meant to talk about it a whole lot more on here but I have a bit of a crazy schedule and an even crazier memory – plans get forgotten, time goes by, etc. So, I haven’t been sharing the game’s progress with you like I intended to, but I’m bringing you the information now!

Terry is a cool dude who really enjoys being an indie game developer. In an e-mail I received from him, he even mentioned that he is now doing indie game development full time and loving it! That’s awesome!

So, please; check this game out and give your support to someone who is truly passionate about the work – not just the profit.

VOTE FOR RETROBOOSTER on Steam Greenlight

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=95140416

Continue reading »]]> Instant Idiocy will be taking part in the Marvel Heroes Closed Beta!

And.. that’s all I can tell you about it! NDA.

As soon as we’re allowed to though, I’ll share as much media as possible! Until then, watch these gameplay videos from YouTube.

David Brevik talks about Marvel Heroes at Comic Con:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9ppowiVpTM

More gameplay with David Brevik on Gamespot’s “Now Playing”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_y_OxhKGR0

Marvel Heroes game features trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh7mDn70RmQ

Continue reading »]]> We can all be Wolverine!

I received word from Gazillion Entertainment this morning, stating that they are undertaking the first step of starting the closed beta for Marvel Heroes – account registration. InstantIdiocy is now registered and excited to try out this new game from the mind behind Diablo (the fantastic original, not the new sell-out), David Brevik. Here’s hoping we get closed beta access!

If you don’t know about Marvel Heroes, let me fill you in. This is an upcoming Free-To-Play MMO Action RPG, based in the Marvel Universe. You will actually play as your favorite Marvel Super Heroes including Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Captain America, Wolverine, Hulk, and many others.

• Choose from a list of fan favorites from the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, and every corner of the Marvel Universe.
• Build your character using a library of spectacular powers appropriate to your hero.
• Customize your character with a library of costumes from Marvel’s rich history.
• Discover an endless variety of gear to increase your hero’s power.

In Marvel Heroes, you will explore the Marvel Universe in a story crafted by comic book super-scribe Brian Michael Bendis.

• Visit famous locations from the Marvel Universe, from Avengers Tower to Mutant Town to the Savage Land.
• Smash through hordes of iconic Marvel enemies, such as the dreaded Purifiers and the legions of HYDRA.
• Face off against dozens of super-villains (soon to be revealed).

Of course, you probably know who the ultimate bad guy of the game is:

Based on some early screenshots and information from the team over at Gazillion, it sounds/looks like this will bring back a lot of the mechanics of Diablo that we loved, with some great improvements. Take that “engine”, apply it to the Marvel Universe, make it Free-To-Play and they just may have hit a winning recipe. Not to mention, their timing is excellent. Just when things are starting to really ramp up on the cinematic side of the Marvel Universe with the Avengers movie and many more on the way. This could be a great companion for the avid fans! You can be sure that this will maintain a home on my hard drive.

Check out a few screenshots below and a YouTube video from Gamespot’s “Now Playing” series, with commentary from David Brevik.

Screenshots:

More screenshots are available over at the Marvel Heroes website: https://marvelheroes.com/screenshots

Gameplay Video:

This gamplay video features commentary from David Brevik (Diablo, Diablo II, etc), Tony Guerrero (Comic Vine) and a Gamespot interviewer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_y_OxhKGR0

If you want a chance to gain access to the closed beta of Marvel Heroes, register at the link below!

https://store.marvelheroes.com/customer/account/create

After completing registration, fill out this beta participation survey to be eligible.

https://marvelheroes.com/beta/survey

Continue reading »]]> There’s a good article over at http://dustindubois.com about why it’s time for the stragglers to finally move away from Windows XP.

Alright, settle down with the torch and pitchforks – I’m just trying to give you the truth of the matter. Windows XP was definitely a better alternative to the Windows Vista “upgrade” but there is really no point in using it over Windows 7 today. If you’re still using Windows XP because your computer can’t run Windows 7, you can probably find something from a thrift-store that is capable. There is also a neat service in Portland, Oregon called “Free Geek” that sells used computer hardware or lets you donate some of your time in their shop in exchange for some computer hardware (that should run Windows 7). Basically, do whatever you need to (within reason and legality) in order to bring yourself up into the modern age of computing! Keep reading and I’ll give you some solid reasons to make the effort.

Click through for the full article!

Continue reading »]]> Looking outside my window as I type this, it’s pretty clear to me that Summer is over. As depressing as that is, there is always a silver lining for this time of year; Fall Game Releases!

There are a lot of great titles coming out this Fall and Winter but we’ll get to the December-March titles later. Today we’re going to focus on just a few of the awesome new games that are on the way this Fall. Hopefully we’ll have some reviews of these for you later in the year! For the moment, here’s a quick run-down of what’s on offer.

Big Games in Fall 2012

1: World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria

The latest expansion for the MMORPG World of Warcraft is slated to hit the market on September 25th, 2012.

Shrouded in fog since the world was sundered more than ten thousand years ago, the ancient realm of Pandaria has remained unspoiled by war. Its lush forests and cloud-ringed mountains are home to a complex ecosystem of indigenous races and exotic creatures. It is the homeland of the enigmatic Pandaren, a race that celebrates life to the fullest even while under siege by an ancient menace.

The new continent reveals itself to a broken world just as the Alliance and Horde are spiraling ever closer to a war that will consume all of Azeroth. Will the mists of Pandaria part to reveal the world’s salvation? Or will the battle to control this rich and breathtaking new land push the two mighty factions over the brink of war and into total annihilation? The answers await within Pandaria’s mysterious shores!

You can Pre-Order the game now if you want to make sure you’re ready!

If you want to keep track of the release date, make sure to bookmark our Countdown to WoW: Mists of Pandaria!

2: Assassin’s Creed III

Assassin’s Creed III is another big title coming out this Fall and you definitely don’t want to miss Ubisoft’s latest stabbing-caper! Due out on October 30th, 2012.

The American Colonies, 1775. It’s a time of civil unrest and political upheaval in the Americas. As a Native American assassin fights to protect his land and his people, he will ignite the flames of a young nation’s revolution. Assassin’s Creed III takes you back to the American Revolutionary War, but not the one you’ve read about in history books.

You are Connor, warrior son of a Native American mother and British father. As the colonies draw closer to revolution, you will dedicate your life to the freedom of your clan, becoming the spark that ignites the revolution into a full blaze. Your crusade will lead you through blood-soaked battlefields and crowded city streets, to the perilous wilderness and stormy seas. You will not only witness history… you will make it. Experience the hidden truth behind one of history’s most influential wars: the American Revolution. Unleash lethal new skills and weapons, and experience a stunningly realistic world created by Ubisoft-AnvilNext, a new engine that redefines gaming. Welcome to an entirely new chapter in the Assassin’s unforgettable saga.

You can Pre-Order the game now if you want to make sure you’re ready!

If you want to keep track of the release date, make sure to bookmark our Countdown to Assassin’s Creed III!

3: Halo 4

Microsoft’s latest shooter epic Halo 4 is coming to Xbox 360 on November 6th, 2012. Master Chief takes on a new bad guy in this installment and you won’t want to miss it!

The Master Chief returns to battle an ancient evil bent on vengeance and annihilation. Shipwrecked on a mysterious world, faced with new enemies and deadly technology, the universe will never be the same. Enlist aboard the Infinity to experience Halo’s original multiplayer and Spartan Ops – episodic fiction-based co-op missions

Halo 4’s Infinity Multiplayer features a vastly expanded suite of multiplayer modes, weapons, vehicles, armor abilities, a new loadout and Spartan-IV player progression system.

Extend your campaign experience in a massive-scale adventure that builds upon the “Halo 4” Campaign. Receive a weekly series of cinematic episodes on Xbox LIVE followed by new game play missions, played solo or cooperatively with up to three friends – effectively delivering two campaign experiences in one game!

You can Pre-Order the game now if you want to make sure you’re ready!

If you want to keep track of the release date, make sure to bookmark our Countdown to Halo 4!

4: Call of Duty: Black Ops II

If you like First-Person Shooter games, there’s a pretty good chance you’re chomping at the bit for this one. Activision’s latest installment to the Call of Duty series, Black Ops II target-locks your screens on November 13th, 2012. Ka-boom.

Pushing the boundaries of what fans have come to expect from the record-setting entertainment franchise, Call of Duty: Black Ops II propels players into a near future, 21st Century Cold War, where technology and weapons have converged to create a new generation of warfare between old and new foes. In this conflict, the mechanized creations of men reign supreme, facing off against each other as their creators stay safe and unconflicted, and in the process grow ever softer. In this scenario an important question will be asked: What happens when enemy steals the keys? To understand such a possible future, you must understand where you have been.

Players of Call of Duty: Black Ops II gain an understanding of this and more through the game’s additional timeline set in the late Cold War era of the 1980′s. Within the campaign story, which spans these two eras, players will see familiar faces such as Alex Mason, his son David Mason, and Sgt. Frank Woods. Linking these together will be the rise of another player in the conflict, Raul Menedez.

You can Pre-Order the game now if you want to make sure you’re ready!

If you want to keep track of the release date, make sure to bookmark our Countdown to Call of Duty: Black Ops II!

Are you ready to play?

Just from the above 4 games, there is some great gameplay on the way to keep you satisfied until it’s time for turkey dinner. Those aren’t the only games coming out in the next couple of months though, here are some more you may be interested in!

September:

• 09/11 – NHL ’13 – [PS3] [360]
• 09/11 – Tekken Tag Tournament 2 – [PS3] [360]
• 09/18 – Borderlands 2 – [PC] [PS3] [360]
• 09/25 – Dead or Alive 5 – [PS3] [360]
• 09/28 – Tokyo Jungle – [PS3]

October:

• 10/02 – NBA 2K13 – [PC] [PS3] [360] [Wii] [PSP]
• 10/02 – Resident Evil 6 – [PS3] [360]
• 10/07 – Pokemon Black & White 2 – [DS/3DS Black] [DS/3DS White]
• 10/09 – Dishonored – [PC] [PS3] [360]
• 10/09 – Fable: The Journey – [360]
• 10/09 – XCOM: Enemy Unknown - [PC] [PS3] [360]
• 10/16 – 007 Legends - [PS3] [360]
• 10/16 – Dance Central 3 - [360]
• 10/21 – Skylanders: Giants - [PS3] [360] [Wii] [3DS]
• 10/23 – Forza Horizon - [360]
• 10/23 – Killzone Trilogy - [PS3]
• 10/23 – Medal of Honor: Warfighter - [PC] [PS3] [360]
• 10/30 – LEGO Lord of the Rings – [PC] [PS3] [360] [Wii] [Vita] [DS] [3DS]
• 10/30 – Need for Speed: Most Wanted - [PC] [PS3] [360] [Vita]
• 10/30 – Nike+Kinect Training - [360]
• 10/30 – WWE ’13 - [PS3] [360] [Wii]

November:

• 11/06 – LittleBigPlanet Karting - [PS3]
• 11/06 – NASCAR The Game: Inside Line - [PS3] [360] [Wii]
• 11/13 – Wonderbook: Book of Spells - [PS3]
• 11/20 – Hitman: Absolution - [PC] [PS3] [360]
• 11/20 – PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royal - [PS3] [Vita]
• 11/20 – Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed - [PS3] [360] [Vita] [3DS]

December:

• 12/04 – Far Cry 3 - [PC] [PS3] [360]

That’s it for now.

If there are any of the above games that you would like to see a Countdown page for, just post a comment!

Continue reading »]]> There are a disconcerting number of people who don’t understand what things like “beta testing” & “stress testing” mean. Let me make this abundantly clear..

When a game developer invites you to participate in a beta test or a stress test, that does not mean you are being gifted early playtime of the final product.

Here as some asinine things I see people complain about, during beta & stress tests.

• Time of Day – When an online game is made available for a few hours to do stress testing (as Guild Wars 2 has been doing fairly often recently), people will complain in every location except where those hours are “prime-time”. If the hours are set for USA, then Asia and Europe complain. If the hours are set for Europe, then USA and Asia complain. Et cetera. People will also kick and scream because they happen to be busy (with work, school, etc) at the same time as the stress test.
• Length of Play – I just read a Facebook post this morning where the Guild Wars 2 team opened up the servers for a quick, 1 hour stress test around 9PM west coast USA time. Not only did many people complain about the time of day (even though this is several hours after the normal end of work day for ArenaNet as they are on west coast USA), they actually complained that 1 hour “couldn’t be enough” and that ArenaNet was just wasting their time. People also complained about not being able to complete quests!
• Data Reset – Using the Guild Wars 2 beta access as an example again; occasionally during beta testing, they will erase player data so that they can have a fresh start. Some games will make you start from scratch each time they bring the servers online for testing, some games probably don’t make you restart (though none that I’ve seen). Guild Wars 2 has been a bit of both. During early beta access, our created characters would stay for a while and then they got wiped. Again we kept them for a while, then they got wiped again. Now, most of you should understand that this is a normal part of beta testing. Some people though will seriously make complaints like, “Wait, characters have been wiped?? Right after I got mine the way I wanted on the last test “. Even though, all of the characters and data will be reset before the game launches (for pre-purchasers – not pre-orderers) in under 40 hours from now!
• Instability – During alpha/beta/stress testing, many people complain about the stability of the game, as though they were playing the final release product and not a test version.

Those are the most common issues but certainly not an exhaustive list. In response to the people who make these complaints, I say this: don’t play a game that’s in beta testing, if you can’t handle a beta environment.

What is a beta?

Software that is still labeled as a “beta” version is something that is, essentially, “feature complete” but is still being tested for bugs. That means you should not be expecting final-release version quality and you may very well run into bugs. If it’s an online game, you can expect; down-times, data resets, lag, bugs, etc. If you are invited to a beta, do not complain about these things. You may certainly report your findings but you have no consumer right to complain at this stage. You are there to help bug-test the game, not to play it early because you’re special.

You signed up for a beta that you don’t have time to play?

I see people complaining (again with Guild Wars 2) that they can’t participate in the beta experience because they have work, school, families, etc. To put it simply, that is your problem, not the game developer’s. If you signed up (or were invited) for beta participation, it’s up to you to work your schedule around the game. Why? Because the people running the beta tests are also “at work” and want to go home to their families afterward. It’s not up to them to stay up all hours of the night so every single person can get on when they want. If you probably won’t have time for beta testing (unless they work it into exactly when you will be available), then you probably shouldn’t sign up (or accept an invite) for beta access.

Beta entitlement.

Too many people have an inflated sense of entitlement. Those people think that since they are beta-testing a product, the test revolves around them and they are the most useful tester there. The reality is though, no individual really matters in a beta test of thousands of people. If the testing periods don’t fit your schedule, tough. If the testing conditions don’t fit your expectations, tough. If the developers are not doing something the way you want, tough! Beta access is not for the consumer! It’s for the developers!!!

If you don’t want to help, then stay out of the beta.

Continue reading »]]> ArenaNet is finally ready to claim an official release date for Guild Wars 2! After this last stress test they’re feeling confident enough to offer up a launch date of August 28th, 2012.

Of course, some Internet newbies couldn’t help themselves and decided they had to troll ArenaNet for their date formatting (since it’s an American company they tend to use American standard date formatting which makes some Europeans obnoxiously butt-hurt).

@guildwars2 Silly Anet, there is no 28th month.

— Olly (@oNaut) June 28, 2012

But since we did get independence from the monarchy on the other side of the pond (oh, quite a few years ago now…), we’re entitled to use whatever date structure we feel like in the States and it’s quite asinine of people in other countries to expect us to change our ways to accommodate them. Thanks for sticking to your home flag, ArenaNet (we @ InstantIdiocy also rep the Northwest with you!).

Dumbasses aside, I’m quite anxious for the release of Guild Wars 2 on 8.28.2012. If you’ve looked at a calendar, you may notice that the 28th is on a Tuesday. If you’re asking yourself, “why the hell would they release a game on a Tuesday?!” – it’s because those who pre-purchased get access to the game 3 days ahead of time on August 25th, which is a Saturday (which you may have noticed in the Tweet above)! That sounds a bit better. If you haven’t pre-purchased Guild Wars 2, you can still do so any time between now and August 25th and you will get the early access.

August is a long way off though, what to do in the mean time?

…participate in another Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend Event!

That’s right, the next (and final!) Beta Weekend Event is on the way in just a few short weeks. The final Beta Weekend Event is scheduled for July 20-22 and will be the last instance of player-testing prior to the game release (though they might try to squeeze in another stress-test, I think that would be a smart choice). Over the course of July and August, the Guild Wars 2 team will be working to put the final spit-shine on everything to make sure it’s nice-and-polished, optimized and (most importantly in an MMO..) balanced. They’ve received a ton of great feedback from Beta players and the show is almost ready to go on!

So Get Ready…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-CB0hheQRg

Guild Wars 2 is coming! (#GW2iscoming)

Continue reading »]]>

ArenaNet is hosting a server stress test for the Guild Wars 2 beta next week on Wednesday, June 27th.

Here’s a quote from the ArenaNet website:

We were very pleased with how our servers performed during our second Beta Weekend Event, but we want to gather additional data on how they operate under load before the next one.

That’s where you come in.

All players who have pre-purchased Guild Wars 2 are invited to participate in our upcoming stress test. This four-hour test event will run on Wednesday, June 27^th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. PDT (GMT-7).

We won’t wipe characters for this event, so if you played in our previous betas, you can pick up right where you left off. All we need you to do is log in and have fun—leave the stress to us!

So far, it looks like our characters will make it through the entire Beta (or at least starting with the pre-purchaser Beta Weekend Events)! If you want to help ArenaNet make sure their servers are up-to-snuff for the real-deal game release (or at least the next Beta Weekend Event) then you should join in on this stress test and hammer those servers as hard as you can! No, I don’t mean DDoS the server – just play very actively, reconnect more than you need to, etc. This is a stress test, not another “free play time for no other reason” so make sure you do your part to stress the servers!

Continue reading »]]>

The hit game SurvivalCraft, for Windows Phone smartphones, has reached a milestone of 1,000 mostly-favorable Ratings on the Windows Phone Marketplace! That’s an achievement not many games (outside of the more-popular Xbox Live titles) on the Windows Phone platform can boast!

What makes this even more of a treat for the developer (Kaalus of Candy Rufus Games) is that the game is not yet even out of its Alpha stages! That’s right! 1,000 Ratings, 4.5/5 stars and not even into Beta testing yet! Now that’s something!

What made this happen so quickly and positively is the attitude of the developer. You would be hard-pressed to find another game developer who listens to the needs & wants of their user-base, as much as Kaalus does. He has been consistent in squashing any bugs that arise and very attentive to our new feature requests. Not only does he not just ignore the users but he actually explains why an idea may or may not work and typically lets us know when we might see it! Often times, new feature requests get filled in the very next game update! That really makes us players feel like a part of the development and very glad to have spent the money.

Now, if by this point of the post you don’t yet know what SurvivalCraft is, I’ll explain it to you. SurvivalCraft is an infinite block-world sandbox game, similar to Minecraft. The initial game concept can make it first appear to be a Minecraft clone but it’s really so much more. The developer is not just implementing all the features of Minecraft and changing some colors. This is no more of a Minecraft clone than Battlefield is a Call of Duty clone (they’re just both first-person shooter games). Kaalus gives his own twist to the block-world sandbox genre by staying closer to realism and avoiding things like “Creepers” or zombies (though many people have certainly suggested these for SurvivalCraft, thinking it’s just a Minecraft clone). The items that will be available to you in game are all much more reminiscent of things you might actually be able to build or acquire if you were “marooned on the shores of an infinite block world” (as is the premise of SurvivalCraft).

SurvivalCraft still has a long way to go before the developer is satisfied with it but it’s already got a bit of a cult following of early-adopter users (myself included) that are having a blast with it, even in the early stages. It might still be a little lean on features for some folks (multiplayer isn’t yet implemented, more foes to be introduced, logic circuits making an appearance later, etc) but now is a great time to get the game and contribute to the development. The price is low, there’s still lots of room for new features and there is a forum community that you can join to help drive the game. If you’ve got a Windows Phone device, why don’t you give it a shot? You can try the game for free to see what it’s all about!

That’s all for now, aside from a big CONGRATULATIONS!! to the developer Kaalus and a big THANK YOU!! from me for helping this game I love to succeed! Links below for all things SurvivalCraft

SurvivalCraft Links:

Developer Site: http://Kaalus.WordPress.com

Marketplace Link: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/a23292c3-6d76-4a4d-ae7a-7e7379325671

Community Forum: http://SurvivalCraft.lefora.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Survivalcraft.WP7

Twitter: http://twitter.com/CandyRufusGames

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/kaalus/videos

Wiki: http://survivalcraftwp7.wikispaces.com

French Wiki: http://survivalcraft.wikispaces.com

SurvivalCraft Custom Textures: http://survivalcraft.lefora.com/2012/06/17/latest-up-to-date-texture-packs

Continue reading »]]>

Guild Wars 2 had another Beta Weekend Event this last weekend and my opinion certainly hasn’t changed – I’m really going to enjoy the final product.

This second BWE definitely brings some changes to the table as well as seemingly-better performance in the populated areas. However, this isn’t a full on review, we’ll be doing one for the final release of Guild Wars 2. This is just to show you some screenshots of what you might be missing out on during the Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend Events. We’ll get some BWE video later as well!

I didn’t get as many as I wanted to this time either (I keep getting busy doing other things during the Beta Weekend Events) but hopefully more next time! This round of screenshots focuses on the Black Lion Trading Company. This is the window that you open to peruse the Gem Store, buy & sell on the Trading Post or convert your Gems to gold (or gold to Gems!).

Before I get to the Black Lion Trading Company, I have a kinda funny screenshot to share. When an item is removed from Guild Wars 2, it leaves behind this funny little thing:

No big deal but I thought it was humorous. Now, on to the rest of the screenshots!